Electrical relay



INVENT'O .Snauely HIS ArjroRNEY Nov. 16, 1943,- c. s. sNAvl-:LY

ELGTRICAL RELAY Original Filed Feb. 6, 1340 Patented Nov. 176, 1943 ELECTRICAL RELAY Clarence S. Snavely, Churchill, Pa., assignor to The Union Switch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application February 6, 1940, Serial No.

317,577. Divided and this application November 9, 1940, Serial No. 365,122

(Cl. 20D-104) 1 Claim.

2,140,604, granted on December 20, 1938, for Electrical relays, with the circuit connectors.

In accordance with my invention, flexible connectors of flat resilient material are fastened at one end to the relay ngers by the contact buttons, and at the other end to the circuit connectors by rivets. The flexible connectors are bent into a gradual curve to-avoid breakage, and are so arranged that the forces exerted by them on the movable member of the relay balance each other.

Other objects and characteristic features of my invention will appear as the description proceeds.

The present application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 317,577, filed on February 6, 1940, for Electrical relays, now Patent No. 2,256,653, granted September 23, 1941.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevational View showing one form of relay embodying my invention, the front and rear cover plates of the relay being removed to better illustrate the construction of the operating parts. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line II-II of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the contact finger 31 forming part of the relay shown in Figs. 1 and 2, as it appears at one stage in the manufacture of the relay. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the finger 31 as it appears at a later stage in the manufacture of the relay.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the drawing, the relay to which yI have shown my invention applied is of the type described in detail in my prior Patent No. 2,140,604, and for a detailed description of this relay reference is made to my prior patent wherein the various parts are designated by the same reference characters as are used in the present application to designate these parts.

In general, the relay comprises a rectangular frame I of insulating material that can be readily moulded, such for example as a phenol condensation product, which frame supports all of the operating parts of the relay. Mounted on one side of the frame I are two U-shaped yokes 6 and 1 of magnetizable material. These yokes aredisposed with their upper and lower legs in spaced parallel confronting relation to provide the necessary armature air gaps, and are constantly magnetized by a pair of permanent magnets only one of which I0 is visible in the drawmg.

The relay also comprises an armature 24 of suitable magnetizable material such as silicon steel moulded into an insulating member 23 adjacent the rear end thereof. The member 23 is pvotally mounted on front and rear pivots I6 and I9 secured respectively to front and rear pivot supports I5 and I8. The pivot supports I5 and I8, in turn, are secured to the frame I in a manner which is described in detail in my copending application, Serial No. 317,577, referred to hereinbefore, and which need not therefore be described herein. The upper and lower ends of the armature 24 extend between and cooperate with the confronting ends of the upper and lower legs of the magnetizable yokes 6 and 1 in such manner that the armature is free to swing between a normal extreme position in which a core pin 24a secured to the upper end of the armature engages the end of the leg 6a. of the yoke 6 and a core pin 24o secured to the lower end of the armature engages the end of the leg 1b of the yoke 1, and a reverse extreme position in which the core pin 24a engages the end of the leg 1a of the yoke 'I and the core pin 24h engages the end of the leg 6b of the yoke 6.

The operating winding of the relay comprises two coils 2S and 28 mounted on spools 25 and 21 which surround the upper and lower ends of the armature with sufficient clearance to permit the necessary movement thereof. The coil 26 is connected by means of leads 26a and 2Gb to coil connectors 29a and 29o moulded into the opposite sides of the frame I, and the coil 21 is similarly connected by means of leads 21a and 21h to coil connectors 30aI and 30h which are likewise moulded into the opposite sides of the frame I. In practice, the coils 26 and 28 will usually be connected in series in an operating circuit which is at times supplied with current of normal polarity and at other times with current of reverse polarity.

Moulded into the forward end of the insulating member 23 are four flexible contact fingers 35, 36, 31 and 38. These fingers extend toward the four corners of a rectangle and cooperate at their outer ends with fixed normal Contact members 35a, 36a, 31a and 38a and fixed reverse contact members 35h, 35h, 31h and 38h, respectively, which are moulded into the sides of the frame l. The front and back contact members are each provided at their inner ends with a portion which is bent at an angle to the main part of the contact member in such manner that when the armature 24 is midway between its two extreme positions, the bent portion of each contact member will extend parallel to the asso,

ciated finger, and each bent portion is provided with a pair of contact buttons 48 which cooperate with similar contact buttons 41 provided on the associated flexible contact nger to provide a low resistance contact. The parts are so proportioned that when the armature is midway between its normal and reverse positions, the contact buttons 41 on each finger will be midway between the contact buttons 48 on the associated normal and reverse fixed contact members, as shown in the drawing, but that, when the armature is swung to its normal extreme position, the contact buttons 41 on the fingers will then engage the contact buttons 48 on the fixed normal conact members to close normal contacts V35-35a, .i6-36a, 31-31a and 38--33a, and that when the armature is swung to its reverse eX- treme position, the Contact buttons 41 on the fingers will then engage the contact buttons 48 on the reverse contact members to close reverse contacts .i-35h, :iS-38h, 31-31b and 384-381). The parts are further so proportioned that when the armature occupies either its normal or its reverse extreme position, the exible contact fingers will be flexed a slight amount intermediate their ends, whereby an effective low resistance contact is provided between the cooperating contact buttons.

The portion of the relay thus far described is identical with that described in my prior patent, and it will be understood that the armature will move from its central position in which .it is shown in the drawing to close the normal or reverse contacts according as the relay winding is supplied with current of normal or reverse relative polarity. It will also be understood that the relay armature will be magnetically -retained in either extreme position to which it is moved until operated to the opposite extreme position by supplying the relay winding with current having a polarity opposite to that which was last supplied to the winding.

According to my present invention, the contact fingers 35, 35, 31 and 38 are connected by means of `flexible fiat spring connector members 65, 6G, 61 and B8, respectively, with circuit connectors 4-3, 44, 45 and 4t which are moulded into. the frame I above and below, as the case may be, the coil connectors 2ST), 29a, 30a and 30h. As will be noted from an inspection of the drawing, the

`connector members are bent into a substantially U-shape, and are secured at one end to the fingers by means of the contact buttons 41, and are secured at the other endV to the circuit connectors by means of rivets 43a, 44a, 45a and 46a. While the fingers are being moulded into the cut oli at the line 13.

One advantage of securing the fingers to the circuit connectors 43, 44, 45 and 45 by means of the spring connector members in the manner just described is that the spring connector members are much more stable than the usual type of flexible connectors since they may be readily designed so that they will not break or take a permanent set due to fatigue. This fact is particularly important when relays must operate as many times as is necessary to per-mit them to be satisfactorily utilized in centralized traic controlling systems, since it eliminates the necessity for any replacement of the spring connector members.

Another advantage of securing the ngers to the circuit connectors 43, 4.4, 45 and 4G by means of the spring connector members in the manner just described is that since the spring connector members are secured to the lingers at the buttons, no current passes through the main portions oi the fingers, so that if for any reason more current flows through the contact than it will stand, the fingers will not become overheated and thus anneal.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of relay embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modiflcations may be made therein within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In a relay comprising a frame, a member pivotally supported by said frame and carrying an armature and electromagnetic means secured to said ira-me and cooperating with said armature for causing rocking movement of said member, the combination of a plurality of contact fingers secured to said member and extending radially from said member a-t the four corners of a rectangle, xed contact members mounted in said frame and cooperating with the fre-e ends of said contact ngers to form contacts, externalxcircuit connectors mounted insaid frame, and means for connecting lsaid-connectors Withrsaid lingers com-- prising a plurality of substantially Ui-shaped .flat 'spring members eachsecured at one vend to a different yone ci said fingers and at the other 'end to a different one-of saidconneetors in such manner that the forces exerted on said iirst men tioned member are substantially balanced.

CLARENCE S. SNAVELY. 

